1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a machine for washing the dishes or the like (hereinafter referred to as a dishwasher) and more particularly to the dishwasher of a novel and simple structure which allows it to be installed with the back thereof positioned closely to a wall of a room in which the dishwasher is used, while assuring the enhanced venting of vapor from the inner space of a dishwasher.
2. Prior Art
Heretofore, a variety of dishwashers having various types of structures have been developed and used, as exemplified by those illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 of the accompanying drawings. Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8 which show a typical conventional dishwasher, where a generally box-like main body 1 of the dishwasher includes a rear wall plate 1a and a vertical supporting frame 2 which is fixedly mounted on the rear wall plate 1a at a top portion thereof and has side plates 2a bent inwardly. A vertically movable box-like cover or door 3 is disposed in the supporting frame 2, the cover 3 having an open bottom and an open rear portion, respectively. A handle formed of a tubular member in a rectangular closed loop is pivotally mounted on the side plates 2a of the supporting frame 2 by means of pin and bracket assemblies 5, respectively, in such a manner as to encircle the cover 3, whereby the handle 4 can be swung selectively in the directions indicated by the double-headed arrow in FIG. 7. Pins 6 are mounted on the side arms of the rectangular handle 4, respectively, each of the pins 6 being operatively connected to a link member 8 at one end 8a thereof. The other end portion 8b of the link 8 is operatively connected to the side wall of the cover 3 at a lower portion 9 thereof. A pair of retainers 11 are integrally formed with a rear portion 4a of the rectangular handle 4 for fixedly holding the top ends of a pair of tension springs 12, which springs 12 have respective bottom ends 12b fixedly retained by a pair of brackets 13 mounted integrally on the rear wall 1a of the washer body 1. Further, an opening 14 is formed at the rear side of the cover 3, as is best shown in FIG. 8 which is a vertical sectional view illustrating the dishwasher of FIG. 7 with the handle 4 being omitted. A washing tub 15 having an open top is formed in the dishwasher main body 1.
The dishwasher may be provided with various equipment such as a dish rack, a washing fluid nozzle, a hot-water nozzle for rinsing, a drying apparatus for drying the washed and rinsed dishes or the like and other means required for the dishwasher. A dishwasher system including these accessories is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-2829.
When the dishes (not shown) are to be placed within the washing tub 15 or to be taken out therefrom, the handle 4 is lightly lifted upward. Since the cover 3 is usually urged upwardly under the force of the tension springs 12 by way of the handle 4, the cover 3 is then moved upwardly under the action of the springs 12 by way of the link members 8, resulting in that the washing tub 15 is exposed to the exterior through the open top thereof. At the same time, the opening 14 formed on the rear side of the cover 3 is moved to the position above the supporting frame 2. Thus, vapor produced in the washing tub 15 can be vented through the open rear portion 14 of the cover 3, following a flow path indicated by arrows in FIG. 8, so as not to vent upon the operator standing in front of the dishwasher.
The structure of a dishwasher also known heretofore and shown in FIG. 9 differs from the one described above in reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 in that a top plate 16 having an opening 17 formed therein is mounted on the supporting frame 2 at a top edge thereof and extends horizontally into the interior of the cover 3 which in turn is provided with a cap 18a and an opening 18 in the top wall thereof, wherein the cap member 18a is adapted to close the abovementioned opening 17 of the supporting frame 2 when the cover 3 moved downwardly has attained the position to close the washing tub 15. As will be seen in FIG. 9, vapor is vented to the exterior through the openings 17 and 18.
The prior known dishwashers of the structures described above suffer from the shortcomings mentioned below:
(1) Since the handle 4 is in the form of a closed rectangular loop, it must be disposed outside of the cover 3 and the supporting frame 2. Further, a portion of the handle 4 as well as the tension springs 12 are exposed at the rear side of the washer body. Consequently, the dishwasher can not be installed with its rear wall or panel flush against the wall of a room in which the dishwasher is to be installed, as a result of which the width and depth taken up by the dishwasher are increased considerably, requiring a large space for installing the dishwasher.
(2) From an aesthetic standpoint, the exposed rectangular handle 4 requires high quality finishing which involves high manufacturing costs.
(3) With the dishwasher structure shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, vapor is vented from the rear side. Consequently, when the dishwasher is installed with the rear side next to a wall, the latter will be adversely affected such as by deposition of condensate, growth of mold and other objectionable phenomena.
(4) In the case of the washer structure shown in FIG. 9, the weight of the cover 3 can be decreased correspondingly and is easy to handle due to the presence of the opening 18 formed in the top plate thereof. However, since the supporting frame 2 has the top plate 16 fixedly mounted thereon, the flow of vapor taking place upon opening of the cover 3 tends to be unstable, resulting in that vapor is likely to escape beyond the front bottom edge of the cover 3 to reach the hands and face of the user.
(5) In the structure shown in FIG. 9, the openings are formed in the top plates of the supporting frame 2 and the cover 3, respectively. Consequently, the structure becomes complicated, causing increased manufacturing costs.
(6) With respect to the size of the opening, it is noted that the opening 14 formed in the rear side of the cover 3 in the structure shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 can not cover a large area because the opening faces a room wall. On the other hand, in the case of the structure shown in FIG. 9, a limitation is imposed on the size of the opening formed in the top plate 3a of the cover 3 because the cap 18a must be provided partially surrounded by the opening 18.
(7) Since the top plate of the cover and/or of the supporting frame is usually held horizontally, there is the danger that hot water droplets may fall on and possibly scald the hands of the operator to their great discomfort, when they put their hands in the washing tub after opening the cover. Further, there is the danger that the rinsed dishes may be contaminated with droplets of washing water. In that case, the dishes have to be washed again, creating another problem.